When Daylight Comes
by isabellsah cullen
Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA. **

**Warning: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature. **

**Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.**

A/N: This fic was surprisingly inspired by the song "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)". On a side note, this story is complete, and I will be posting updates weekly.

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><p>CHAPTER ONE<p>

_SPOV_

I sat at my desk, staring mindlessly at my computer screen as it ran through a handful of searches for the latest high bond FTAs. I looked down briefly and noticed someone had placed a bowl of minestrone soup, a couple of pieces of garlic bread, and a bottle of water by my elbow. Huh. Pulling the food closer to me, I slowly ate, not tasting anything. I wasn't even hungry; hadn't been in a long while. I was just eating because I knew they were watching me and they were worried about me.

My searches finished, I sent the results to the printer and sat back in my chair. The bowl was half empty now, and I'd had enough, so I pushed it away to the corner of my desk, along with the empty plate. I opened the bottle of water and swallowed half of it in a few long gulps. Standing, I slowly meandered down the hall to the copy room, collecting my searches before I trundled back to my desk. The dishes were gone. Pulling out a highlighter, I set to work.

~*S*R*~

A throat cleared beside me, startling me out of my zone. I glanced up from the spread of papers before me and raised an eyebrow at Lester.

"Hey Beautiful, its six o'clock. You thinking about heading up soon?" Lester inquired softly.

Surprised, I glanced at my watch. It was a little after six.

"Lost track of time," I mumbled, collecting the papers into a neat stack, turning off my computer and grabbing my purse.

I bumped into Lester, who I hadn't realized was still standing in the entryway to my cubicle.

"Sorry," I said, giving him a weak smile and stepping around him. His hand on my arm made me stop. I turned back to face him and found myself in a tight hug.

"He's okay, Steph. He's the best of the best," Lester assured me. I blinked back tears that were threatening to fall. I couldn't cry here. Once I started it was hours before I could stop. That was something best reserved for the privacy of the apartment. "He has you to come home to, so I know he'll do what he has to do to come back to you," he added. A muffled sob escaped my lips.

"Thanks, Les," I sniffled, breaking away from him and rushing to the elevator

The trip up to the seventh floor was swift. My hand shook as I tried to press my key fob to unlock the apartment door. Finally managing it, I quickly shut the door behind me and let my tears fall. Dropping my purse in the foyer, I kicked off my shoes and made my way into the bedroom. I crawled into our bed and pulled his pillow close to me, finally letting myself breakdown. It had been eight months since Ranger had gone in the wind. Five months since he'd missed the first check in, and every one following. The day he'd gone in the wind, he'd asked me to move in with him; asked if I'd be willing to give _us _a try now that Morelli was out of the picture. It had been both one of the happiest and saddest days of my life. I'd finally gotten him and then I'd had to say goodbye. Now it was possibly there'd never be an _us_. I'd never told him how I felt, three small words that seemed so hard to say, but now I would proudly shout from a roof top. Every day I regretted not telling him I loved him.

_I love you, Ranger. Please come home_ _soon_.

Loud sobs racked my body as I cried myself to sleep.

~*S*R*~

It was still dark when I awoke. Glancing at the clock on his bedside table, I noted it was quarter to four. Getting up, I slowly showered and dressed in a sports bra, one of Ranger's t-shirts and a pair of spandex shorts. I reheated the dinner Ella had left for me last night, and forced myself to eat half of it. I set the dishes in the sink, grabbed my key fob out of my purse from the sideboard table where it now sat. The elevator trip down to the first underground floor was quick. I entered the empty gym, climbed on the treadmill furthest from the door and set it for five miles. When the treadmill beeped, I was barely out of breath, my body coated in a thin sheen of sweat. That's what happened when you ran every day, I guess, you got fit. I slowed down to a walk, warming down my muscles. Some of the other guys had slowly made their way into the gym while I'd been running. They all knew my schedule and it looked like Ram had volunteered to be my sparring buddy for the day. Killing the treadmill, I made my way over to the mat, stripped my shirt off, removed my shoes and ducked under the rope barrier.

"Morning, Steph," Ram greeted me with a big smile. He, Lester, Bobby and Tank were the only ones who didn't treat me like I was going to fall apart at the drop of the hat. Ram had been the one to teach me how to spar. I now knew quite a few defensive styles of combat and martial arts styles; however Krav Maga was up at the top as one of my favourites.

"Morning, Ram. Did you have a good day off yesterday?" I wondered, doing a few quick stretches.

"Spent the day with my girlfriend," he admitted almost shyly.

"How is Sarah, I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks?" I asked.

Since I'd started working at Rangeman full time I'd gotten to know the guys steady girlfriends. Sarah and I got on well and had been shopping and out to lunch a handful of times together. She'd become a really good friend to me, cheering me up on my worst days.

"She's good, asked when I'd drag you away from your desk so you two could go shopping together," he laughed, finishing his stretching and facing me.

"I'm just on call tomorrow, but you know how things change at the drop of a hat around here. I'll talk to Tank and see if I can get a definite day off next week," I promised, cracking my neck as I waited patiently.

"Good. So what'll it be today? Karate, Jujutsu, Boxing, Krav Maga?" Ram questioned, listing off some of the styles he'd taught me.

We'd just recently started a new style that I was enjoying. "Capoeira," I suggested. He nodded, a small smile on his face.

We easily fell into a sort of rhythm, Ram correcting my technique where he thought I could improve. We both landed some good strikes and after half an hour, called it quits.

I made my way back up to the seventh floor, feeling better than I had in a long time. Today was going to be a good day.

Showered and dressed in my standard Rangeman uniform, I was down on the fifth floor by six. Dropping my purse at my desk, I casually walked into the control room, checking things out.

"Anyone want a break?" I volunteered, giving a small smile to Caesar, Benny and Hector.

"Gracias, Señora," Hector replied, holding out his seat for me.

I smiled and quickly sat down, "De nada," I murmured as Hector pressed a kiss to my forehead and swaggered out of the room. Hector may not speak any English, but I knew he understood it. He'd been teaching me a few Spanish phrases to surprise Ranger with. The tear drops hardly even bothered me anymore. He was a scary dude, but he was nice to me, so I could roll with the whole gang thing.

Half an hour later, I was back at my desk, powering up my computer. I'd just opened my emails when there was a knock on my cubicle. I turned quickly and frowned as I met Tank's grim face.

"Tank? What's up?" I wondered as he folded his arms and leant against the side of my cubicle. It made an ominous creaking noise, but held strong.

"You got a few minutes?" he asked gruffly.

I nodded slowly and stood on shaky legs. He pressed a hand to my lower back and guided me toward his office. We entered and he quietly shut the door behind us.

There was a man standing behind Tank's desk. Tall, well built, in a navy coloured suit. He stood rigid with his hands clasped firmly behind his back looking out the window. His posture screamed military.

"Stephanie, this is Justin Caver. He's Ranger's handler," Tank announced. I bit my bottom lip, to stop it from wobbling. I could already feel myself starting to panic; tears where threatening.

"Please take a seat, Miss Plum," the man instructed without turning around to face me. His tone was no nonsense.

Taking a deep calming breath, I wearily sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

_It's okay, Steph. Ranger's fine. He's okay. Pull yourself together._

"Miss Plum –"

"Stephanie, please," I whispered hoarsely, swallowing nervously.

"Stephanie," he acknowledged with a slight incline of his head. "There's been a royal fuckup and we now have an unfortunate situation," he continued, slowly turning to face me. His face was just as ruggedly handsome as the rest of him, yet I didn't find myself attracted to him. He had a hard edge; bitter, like he'd seen and done too much. Probably had. I figured he was five, maybe six years older than me.

I took another deep breath, rolled my shoulders back and pinned the man with my eyes.

"Is Ranger alive?" I asked quietly.

"We believe so, yes," he replied.

I rose to my feet, folding my arms across my chest as I continued to stare at him.

"You _believe _so? You don't _know_? Christ, I thought the government was supposed to know _everything_," I snarled.

Caver advanced on me, poking his finger against my chest.

"Now look here little lady," he growled.

In one swift motion I grabbed his right wrist and swept his right leg out from under him, wrenching his arm around behind his back, dropping him to the floor.

"Do not _fuck_ with me," I warned, dropping his arm and stepping back from him. I heard Tank chuckle.

"Shit, I should have known you'd be trained to kick my ass. Did Ranger tell you I was slow on my right?" he asked, getting to his feet and rubbing his wrist.

"Ranger has never mentioned you. You have a slight limp. It's good to know he's kicked your ass," I snapped.

"Bombshell, relax. Caver was in the Rangers with us. He's a good guy; don't hold being a spook against him. Sitting behind a desk all day is making him slow," Tank smirked, clapping Caver a few times on the back.

"So was it intelligence _you _gave Ranger that caused him to be in this FUBAR situation?" I demanded taking a step closer to him. Tank sidled over to me and draped his heavy arm across my shoulders, tucking me against his body. I growled under my breath.

"No, ma'am. You have the CIA to thank for that idiocy," Caver answered, smiling slightly as he glanced between Tank and me.

"Caver is here to help us get Ranger back, Steph. I think it's time to let the man speak. Then you can ask questions, alright?" Tank said, giving me a gentle squeeze.

I gave a brisk nod and folded myself back into my chair. Caver moved behind the desk and sat in Tank's chair. I felt Tank standing somewhere behind me.

"Stephanie, what I'm about to tell you is highly classified information," Caver began, before I interrupted him. Again.

"Can we cut through the bullshit? I work in a building full of ex-military men; I think I can comprehend when something is classified and what that means," I grumbled. Caver gave a nod and a small smile.

"You're not Ranger's usual type," Caver commented, considering me.

"If by that you mean big breasted supermodels with one brain cell between them, then you're right, I have _at least_ two brain cells, all to myself," I sassed, a smile playing on my lips.

Both Tank and Caver laughed.

"I like you. You'll keep Ranger on his toes," Caver added, his eyes locking with Tank's over my shoulder.

"Told you," Tank grunted. Caver nodded slowly.

"For the past two years, we've been monitoring a situation in Brazil. We've been tracking the movements of an organization led by a man identified as Thiago Medeiros. There have been quite a number of disappearances of young to middle aged men, all healthy, strong, and handsome from villages, towns and cities all over Brazil. We sent a team in on a reconnaissance mission and discovered Medeiros was running a large scale people smuggling operation. He owns a large chunk of land in North Eastern Brazil in which he runs a very successful banana plantation, producing sixty precent of all of Brazil's banana exports. He uses this business as a cover. All the workers on the farm are the people he's smuggling out around the world to the rich and wealthy as workers, sex slaves, you name it. Following so far?" Caver paused, flashing me a smile.

"Yes," I returned quickly. I could already imagine how Ranger fit into all this; I just wanted to know what had happened to him and how to get him back.

"Good. Medeiros has a lot of friends in high places. When he wants to send out a special shipment, officials' pockets are lined and his shipping crates leave the country with no inspection. He has bribed other officials in the States, China, Japan, and a number of countries in Europe so his crates don't get inspected there either. It is a very successful operation," Caver concluded thoughtfully.

"So did you send Ranger in to destroy it or gather more evidence?" I queried quietly.

"He was sent in to infiltrate the organization and gather enough evidence to lock Medeiros, the members of his organization, and as many dirty politicians and officials as possible away for quite some time. His assignment was also to determine the exact locations of where Medeiros sent the shipments to and who the contacts were on the other side that made sure his packages got delivered to the right people," Caver explained.

"So what happened?" I asked, turning everything over in my mind.

"Medeiros started getting suspicious. He leaked some false information that found its way easily into the CIA's hands. Ranger was sent straight into an ambush."

"Fuck!" I cursed softy, shaking my head.

"As you can imagine, he was captured, beaten, tortured and from what we can gather, has been put to work on the plantation. We've sent in a few other agents to infiltrate the organization; they all ended up dead. We believe it was because they didn't fit the 'criteria'," Caver finished.

I sat quietly for a few moments, thinking over everything Caver had told me. I had a pretty good idea of what I thought my roll was going to be in this, but I wanted to make sure.

"So, these buyers, do they ever visit the plantation and hand pick out the ones they want?" I questioned softly, watching Caver quietly.

"Yes."

"So what's the catch?" I demanded, climbing out of my chair to pace in front of the desk.

"Excuse me?" Caver bristled.

"The catch? You're the government; there is always a catch. No one does anything for free. You wouldn't just tell us all this information so we could go in there and rescue Ranger without there being a catch," I reasoned calmly.

"The deal, Bombshell, is that you pose as an interested, wealthy buyer that is considering doing regular business with Medeiros. You go in with a team, purchase Ranger and get the hell out of dodge. The _catch_ is, that you need to gather the information Ranger was supposed to collect," Tank murmured quietly, his face unreadable. I couldn't tell whether or not he thought it was a good deal or a bad one. I for one thought it was bullshit.

"No deal. I want to renegotiate the terms," I retorted, placing my hands on my hips as I glared at both men. A small smile appeared on Tank's face, before he quickly smothered it. That was all I needed to know I was doing the right thing.

"There is no renegotiation," Caver said, frowning. "Don't you want Ranger back? You've been moping around for months, heartbroken." I froze, my blood boiling as my anger levels shot through the roof.

"You bastard," Tank muttered.

"You've known for _months_ where they've been holding Ranger! You've been following me around, gathering intel on _me_ while you jackasses could have already gone in and fucking rescued him! And don't even try that fucking reverse psychology bullshit on me, pal! Whether it's under the government's jurisdiction or not, we will be rescuing Ranger. We have a lot of friends in high _and _low places that would be willing to help us out. It will be on your head for refusing to negotiate with us," I fumed, slamming my hands down on the desk for impact.

Caver sat down in his chair and remained silent for a few minutes. I resumed my pacing.

"The guys may have friends in high places, but I don't believe _you_ do. You would be integral to the operation and I'm sure we could detain your exit from the country for months, maybe even years," Caver spoke softly and menacingly. I hated being threatened and underestimated.

"Look here Caver, you no good piece of shit," Tank started.

"Tank. I got it," I murmured, a small smile playing on my lips.

When negotiating, I found it was always useful to keep an ace up your sleeve. And boy, did I have an ace. Not even Tank knew about it. I'd only found out about it myself a couple of years ago when Ranger mentioned my dad had been in the military. Daddy and I had had a long heart to heart. What I'd learned in that afternoon would make my mom drink herself into a coma. Daddy hadn't just _been _in the military. He was still _in _the military, in a very high position of power. He had a secret office setup in the garage at home and frequently flew the short distance to Washington DC and home again without my mom being any the wiser.

"Who's your supervisor, Caver?" I asked.

"I'm not at liberty –"

"Bullshit. Let's see, intelligence, but not CIA. You were in the Rangers, so you'd still be army. That would mean you report to Lieutenant General Johnson. Excellent," I drawled, pulling out my phone.

"How the fuck did you know that? That's classified information," Caver protested. I smirked to myself.

Tank and Caver both watched as I hit speed dial two.

"Pumpkin, something wrong?" dad inquired. This was the first time I'd called him on his cell phone; I was only to call it in case of an emergency.

"Yep. I have a _little_ problem here at Rangeman that I think you might be the perfect man to sort out. Are you in town or DC?" I asked. It would make it somewhat more difficult if he was in DC, but I'm sure myself, Tank, a team from Rangeman and Caver could all make the little trip together.

"I'm in Trenton. Be there in fifteen."

"Thanks, daddy. See you soon," I replied, hanging up. "Now we wait," I addressed Caver and Tank.

I called the control room and informed them my dad would be here soon and to let him up into Tank's office.

Flopping back into my chair, Tank crouched down in front of me.

"No offense, Steph. But I don't see how your _daddy_ can help us out right now," Tank whispered. He thought I was just trying to call Caver's bluff. I had a much more effective method than that.

"You will, Tank."

Twelve minutes later, there was a brisk knock on the door before my dad entered.

"General Plumerri, sir," Caver saluted briskly, standing at attention.

"At ease, Caver," he stated, before standing behind my chair and placing his hands on my shoulders.

"Thanks for coming, dad," I said, tilting my head back and smiling sweetly at my father. Caver started spluttering loudly. Dad bent down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. He was wearing a nicely pressed black on grey suit. It made him look very official.

"What's the situation, Pumpkin?" dad asked, dropping into the seat beside me, before nodding at Tank.

"Ranger has been captured while on a mission thanks to bad intelligence. I don't like the deal Caver is offering me to extract him. I want to renegotiate," I summarised briefly.

I watched my dad's face turn from red to purple and back to red again.

"And you didn't think to mention _any _of this to me, Caver? I specifically requested to be briefed on Manoso's progress. This is a direct violation of a superior officer's request and you can bet I'll be writing you up on it! Now why aren't you negotiating with my daughter?" dad barked out. I had to admit it, I was impressed.

"S-sir, I don't have my supervising officer's permission to renegotiate the terms of –"

"You have my permission. If Johnson has a problem with that he can take it up with me. If my daughter gets hurt under your watch, Caver, you'll find yourself out of a job before you can say general discharge!" dad barked, standing once more and facing me. "I think you can handle it from here, Pumpkin. Be safe, and bring that man of yours home. God knows your mother will want him over for dinner," he added softly, kissing me before exiting the room.

I smiled to myself; I loved my dad.

Tank collapsed into the chair next to me and held out his fist. I bumped his casually and turned to face Caver with narrowed eyes.

"Are you ready to renegotiate the deal now?" I asked quietly.

"What are your terms?" Caver wearily questioned, rubbing a hand over his face before he sat back in his chair.

"I will require a plausible alias, significant funding in a few bank accounts to back up my alias, and a large amount of money in cash that can be used to buy Ranger or to buy us out of trouble at any time. My team and I will be armed and will have access to anything we deem required to successfully complete this mission. _I_ will be choosing the team that goes with me. It will not include any person from _any_ government agency. I will wear a wire and gather all the intel you require. In return, I want all of Ranger's government contracts deemed fulfilled and for him to receive any payments that he was to obtain on their completion. He will get an honourable discharge from duty if, when we bring him back, he so wishes it." I folded my arms across my chest and waited.

"What about payment for your services?" Caver wondered, not giving anything away yet.

"I can't speak for the members of my team; however the fulfilling of Ranger's contracts will be more than satisfactory for my payment," I murmured.

"Who are the team members you have in mind?" Caver said, almost thoughtfully.

I sat quietly for a moment, weighing up the pros and cons of each of Ranger's men. It all came down to who I trusted, who I knew Ranger trusted and who I had seen in action.

"Tank, Lester, Bobby, Ram and Bones," I answered shortly. Tank was the muscle, Lester was agile and sneaky, Bobby was an excellent shooter, Ram was just plain badass and he knew security systems like the back of his hand, and Bones was pretty handy to have around if someone was injured.

"Ranger was to receive ten million dollars at the completion of this mission. If you and your team are successful, that money will go to you to divvy up as you see fit."

My mind boggled.

_Ten million dollars for gathering information on a people smuggling operation? _

Holy shit, no wonder the government was broke.

Caver continued, "As for your other requirements, they can be met. I expect you and your team to report to DC tomorrow, 0900 hours –"

"I don't think you understood me, Caver. This is our operation. There will be no government interference. The only part you or your friends in DC will play is supplying us the details on how to get in contact with Medeiros, all the information you have on his setup, equipment, and the financial backing. I also want our agreement in writing signed by your superiors," I requested.

"As you wish, Ma'am," Caver ground out through clenched teeth.

"I expect you, the contract, and the file on Medeiros to report back here tomorrow 0900. We'll then brief you on our other requirements and our envisioned plan of attack. Until tomorrow, Caver," I said, standing and holding out my hand.

He begrudgingly shook it.

"Bombshell, how about you get the guys together while I show Caver out?" Tank wondered. I gave him a small smile, and escaped from the office.

My mind was reeling. Ranger was alive and we were going to bring him home.

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><p><em>To be continued...<em>


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.

Warnings: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.

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><p>CHAPTER TWO<p>

_SPOV_

"Hey, I need you guys to meet me in Conference Room C, ASAP," I announced to Lester and Bobby as I slid into the break room, catching myself on the doorframe before I fell ass over tail.

"No problem, Beautiful," Lester shrugged, finishing his coffee in one long gulp.

"Have either of you seen Bones?" I wondered trying to remember if he was working today or not.

"He doesn't start 'til twelve. Lucky bastard's probably still in bed," Bobby muttered, depositing his mug in the sink.

"Not for long. He's in 4F isn't he?" I queried, already turning to leave.

"Sure is, go get him, Beautiful," Lester cheered.

Shaking my head, I called over my shoulder, "See you guys in there soon."

I jogged down the stairs to the fourth floor and quickly made my way to Bones' apartment. Within twenty seconds of pounding on the door, a very naked and bedraggled Bones slammed open the door, a gun in his hand pointed straight at me.

"Uh, meeting in Conference Room C in ten?" I stated hesitantly, trying to keep my eyes from straying down his deliciously naked body. _Yummy. _Bones grunted and slammed the door shut. I hoped that meant he was coming. If he didn't turn up in fifteen, I'd send Tank down to get him.

I made my way quickly back up to five and headed directly to Ram's cubicle.

"Hey sexy lady," Ram said, grinning as he leant back in his chair.

"You feel like kicking some Brazilian ass?" I asked, flashing him a devious smile.

"Hell yes," he growled, standing and following me as we made our way to the elevator to head down to the second floor.

"We're meeting Tank, Lester, Bobby and Bones, if he makes it out of bed," I explained as we descended.

When we finally made it to the conference room, Tank was already set up with his laptop hooked up to the projector. There were five other laptops on the table, waiting to be used.

"I've got Caesar and Manny running searches. As we speak, Silvio is hacking into the government's server and is pulling a copy of anything relating to Medeiros. Hopefully we'll have as much information as we need shortly after one pm. I sent Vince with Caver to DC along with Ranger's lawyer," Tank rumbled, as I claimed my seat, booting up the laptop in front of me.

"Good. Once Bones gets here, we can get everyone up to speed. I want to get Ranger back as soon as possible, but we need a solid plan of attack. I don't want anything going wrong; it's too important," I trailed off, noticing as soon as I mentioned Ranger's name, Ram, Lester and Bobby sat up a little straighter.

"We got a mission?" Lester asked.

I nodded, allowing myself a small smile. "Ranger's alive; he's been captured and tortured, but he's still alive. We're going to go save him," I proclaimed excitedly.

"Sounds like I missed all the fun this morning," Bones muttered as he sulked in with a large cup of coffee.

"Close the door, Bones. We've got a lot of work to do," Tank ordered.

Once Tank and I had briefed the guys on all the information we had so far, we each set down to work, researching specifics. Using the searches Caesar and Manny had done, and the documents Silvio had obtained, we pulled together a more detailed picture to develop our plan of attack.

I studied all the pictures we had of Medeiros. He was a very handsome man. Tall and well-built with a gorgeous face, he was nearly fifty years old, yet he looked like a man in his mid to late thirties. There were laugh lines around his eyes and mouth that seemed to enhance his good looks. The man did not look like a people smuggler. However, I knew better than most that appearances were usually deceiving.

"So. What are the most important points we've found?" I questioned, lifting my head to stare at the guys in turn.

"The price of purchasing a man can range between five hundred thousand dollars, to two million. I'd say we need to take three in, to be on the safe side. I doubt they'll let Ranger go easily," Bobby said, closing his laptop and pushing it away.

"Good, what else?" I asked, closing my laptop also.

"Medeiros has an office in the city of Belém. I suggest the first meeting take place there. We can bug his office and begin collecting evidence," Ram added, drawing a pad and pen towards him as he started making a list.

"I don't think we've found anything else of vital importance. Just information that will generally come in handy," Tank commented. I nodded, information like where the plantation was, who were to top dogs in the organization and how many men Medeiros had captured were all just handy facts.

"Okay. We need to set up my alias. As soon as we get everything arranged with Caver, I want to make contact with Medeiros. The less time we waste, the better for Ranger's sake. We need Medeiros to know I'm very interested in purchasing a large number of men," I said thoughtfully. He'd be more willing to do business personally with me if he knew I was willing to spend more.

"I think we should keep your first name Stephanie, that way there is less chance of any slip ups," Bones suggested. The other guys agreed. Ram, Tank and Bones wouldn't need any aliases; their nicknames were already unusual enough. Lester and Bobby, however, would need to be addressed differently.

"Something common for a surname. Williams? Adams? Taylor?" Ram recommended, glancing up from the list he was making. I turned the suggestions over in my mind, thinking of a simple middle name to go with it.

"Stephanie Grace Adams? Alright?" I put forward to the guys.

"Yep," they answered together.

"Any ideas for your names Bobby and Les?" I asked them. The other men broke out in smiles. I didn't get the joke.

"Don't you worry about us, Bombshell. We'll use our army ranger names," Bobby smirked.

"And those are?" I requested, almost impatiently. So sue me, I wanted to know.

"Well Bobby is Trig, for Trigger happy and mine is Snake, because of the large snake I've got down my pan –"

"Lester!" The guys hollered, cutting off the end of Lester's sentence. They all groaned, shaking their heads.

"What? Y'all just jealous cause it's true," Lester said, puffing out his chest.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't hold back a smile.

_If he knew what was down Ranger's pants, he wouldn't be boasting so much. _

"What will be your purpose for the men? Medeiros might be curious or suspicious. We need to cover all bases," Bobby declared, ignoring Lester's ridiculous behaviour.

"Hmmm, let's see." I jumped up from my seat and started pacing slowly around the table.

What was it Caver had mentioned? Workers and sex slaves. I mulled each option over, coming up with different scenarios, until I had one I thought could work.

"Okay, how about this? I'm starting a very exclusive ladies club in the States and I need men to wait, bartend, dance, strip and provide pleasurable services for my customers. This first trip is for me to determine whether Medeiros' men will be suitable. My first buy will be for a man whom I wish to solely _service_ me."

"Damn, Beautiful, I'll service you any time! You'll have all the men lining up, begging you to take them. Christ, Ranger isn't going to know what to do with you," Lester chuckled, pretending to fan his face.

I sent a fleeting glance to the ceiling and focused back on Tank.

"It will work," he agreed, a small grin flashing across his face.

"Okay, so what will my alias be? It can't be anything too public, like an actress or model," I said, resuming my trip around the table.

"Porn star!" Lester shouted excitedly. Bones smacked him across the back of his head.

"Gold-digger?" Bobby offered. "You're older husband died recently from a heart attack and you inherited everything. He was a wealthy businessman who played the stock market."

"Good possibility. Anyone got anything else?" I addressed the room.

"You're into real estate. Good at buying and selling at the right times. You started off doing DIY on run down properties and re-selling them at a profit. We could transfer a handful of Ranger's properties into your name," Ram proposed frankly.

I turned that over in my mind for a second. It was a good idea; I preferred it to being a gold-digger anyway. Also transferring Ranger's properties into my name seemed a lot easier than having to create fake ones. Just how many properties did Ranger own?

"Is Ranger into real estate?" I inquired softly.

"Something you should ask him, Bombshell, once we rescue him," Tank murmured, giving me a cheeky grin. I wondered what the grin was about.

"What supplies will we need?" Bones inquired, "Beside guns, grenades, flak vests, knives, a couple of first aid kits, sat phones and fake passports."

"Private plane, wheels once we're on the ground, accommodation, and cash," Ram said, 'And I'll need to bring a few things in case we need to get through their security. Not to mention surveillance gear, audio and visual bugs, phone taps, microphones, tracers and trackers. I've started a list."

"We can use Ranger's plane. As for wheels, we'll need bullet proof SUVs of some kind. I say we get a house and set up shop halfway between the plantation and Belém," Tank asserted. "Let's grab an hour's break for lunch. When we come back we can compile a complete list. Then there won't be much to do until Caver returns tomorrow."

I waited until all the guys had left the conference room, before slowly making my way out. I needed some time alone to think. Heading up to the seventh floor, I felt exhausted, yet exhilarated at the same time. I kicked off my shoes as I padded into the apartment, re-heating the food Ella had left for my lunch. I swear that woman knew my schedule before I did!

I wolfed down my spaghetti and meatballs, set my alarm and assumed my thinking position on Ranger's large bed. It was the best sleep I'd had in months; so good, in fact, that I managed to sleep through my alarm. When I awoke, it was nearly three in the afternoon. I stumbled into the bathroom, relieved myself and raced straight down to the second floor without a glance in the mirror.

"Wha'd I miss?" I stammered as I tripped into the conference room, still half asleep.

"Whoa, relax, Steph," Ram said, jumping up to catch me and deposit me in my chair. I frowned as he patted me on the head, quickly realising he was trying to smooth down my hair. I groaned loudly and thumped my head on the table. I must look a mess.

"I went up to check on you, Bombshell, but you were sound to the world. Thought it best to let you sleep," Tank muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"But maybe next time you rush out of the apartment, you might want to remember your shoes. Less tripping happens that way," Bones informed me, an almost too serious look on his face.

I glanced down and sure enough, my socks were hanging haphazardly off my feet. I sighed heavily and banged my head once more for good measure.

"You haven't missed much. We've just made the list of supplies. You can review it; see if we need to add anything. Tank will call it in to Caver. Then we wait until tomorrow," Bobby clarified, handing me the piece of paper.

My eyes widened as they travelled down the lengthy list. I had no idea what some of the stuff was.

"Why does _spare tyres_ have three exclamation marks after it?"

"Well, we won't name names, but _someone_," Bones paused and shot a glare in Lester's direction, "thought the spare tyre was taking up too much room last time and decided to leave it out. Then when we got a flat in the middle of the fucking desert we had to _walk_ five hundred miles before we could get across the fucking border to safety!" Bones finished loudly.

The guys, looking like they remembered that particular mission, all shot hard glares at Lester.

"Christ, it wasn't that bad," Lester muttered.

"You weren't the one with a fucking bullet hole in their leg!" Bones shouted back.

"I _told_ you that guy was mine, but did you listen? No. You had to go and be a hero!" Lester yelled in response, jumping out of his chair to round the table on Bones.

"Enough! Sorry I asked, sheesh. No one will forget the spare tyres this time, all right guys?" I demanded, jumping between them to place a hand on each of their fine chests.

"Yeah, alright," Bones grunted, taking a step back.

"Whatever," Lester snorted, "I totally could have taken him."

On their way out of the conference room, they gave each other noogies, so I don't think there were any hard feelings.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon at my desk, completing a couple of searches for the guys. I headed up to the apartment at six, showering and eating my dinner, before crawling back into bed. Exhausted from the day's events, I quickly fell asleep. One man was the repeated star of my dreams that night, which for once didn't revolve around his death.

~*S*R*~

I was in the gym by five am, the treadmill set to ten miles today and the speed set a tad quicker. I was feeling restless, I wanted to push myself and I needed to kill time until Caver arrived. Technically, I wasn't even scheduled to work today; I was just on call. I knew Tank would kick me out of my cubicle if I went upstairs to do some searches. He'd done it before.

As I did my workout, I watched some of the guys sparing. First Benny and Gene went a round, then Junior and Cal. My ten miles were almost up when Lester strode in, shirtless, a pair of black basketball shorts hanging low on his hips. I licked my lips and watched his muscles bunch and flex as he lazily made his way over to me. Even though I wished it were Ranger's muscles I was admiring, I could still appreciate an attractive man when I saw one.

"Hey, Beautiful," Lester said, folding his arms across the front of my treadmill, a smile plastered on his face.

"Hey, Les," I panted, finally slowing my machine down to a walk as it beeped, signalling my ten miles.

"I'm gonna go warm up. You take your time," he said, chuckling as he walked over to the now empty mat.

Lester's favourite martial arts style was Ninjutsu. He kicked my ass every time we met on the mats. We used wooden Naginata a lot of the time, and I noticed today was going to be one of those times as Lester went to the small storage cupboard and pulled out the weapons. I groaned quietly under my breath. I always ended up badly bruised and achy after one of these sessions. Stopping the treadmill, I figured I better conserve whatever energy I had left. At least it wasn't Bojutsu training today, those wooden staffs were bigger, more solid and hurt a hell of a lot more that the Naginata. Fucking Lester. He always thought it was funny when he managed to sweep my legs out from under me. I bet he just trained in these styles so he could make dirty remarks about his _long staff_. I was way better at martial arts that _didn't _involve weapons. Hand to hand, or foot to face was more my thing. However, the guys all agreed that a variety of methods would serve me better.

"You ready, Beautiful?" Lester inquired.

"As I'll ever be," I grunted, stepping into our starting position.

"Come on, you're continually improving," he remarked kindly, before thwacking me across the thigh.

"Thanks, Les."

"Anytime."

By the end of the session, I'd managed to get in a few strikes, and block a few more than last time. Guess I was getting a little better. I still ended up on my ass three or maybe four times.

"Remember, Beautiful, when we first started teaching you Karate, you didn't think you'd ever get the hang of it, now you can kick Bobby's ass," Lester said, trying to cheer me up as I limped out of the gym.

It was true. When I'd first begun training, I hated it all and couldn't do jack shit. Now, only eight months later, I loved sparring and I loved learning new styles.

We parted ways in the elevator, Lester getting off at four, while I leant against the elevator wall as it carried my battered body up to seven. At least it was now almost eight. I planned to spend a long time in Ranger's shower, with the water turned to boiling.

I was in the conference room by quarter to nine, sitting restlessly, even though my body was dead tired. Bobby, Lester, Ram and Bones were only a few minutes behind me. Tank walked in ten minutes later, with Caver by his side.

The meeting went pretty smoothly. Caver had what we'd asked of him, and seemed pretty willing to get what we needed where we needed it asking for clarity on only a few items. He had delivered the requested three million cash in a thin black brief case along with the contract that our lawyer had gone over with a fine toothed comb. The file he had on Medeiros, as expected, contained scarcely anything that we already didn't know. We briefed Caver on our plan of attack. Make contact with Medeiros by phone and organize a meeting, hopefully at his office in Belém. At the meeting, I would be wired for sound and visual and place as many bugs throughout his office building and on his person as I could. We'd then do reconnaissance until we were allowed to visit the plantation, hopefully gathering enough evidence to satisfy Caver. At the plantation, I'd be again wired, and we'd purchase Ranger, get back on the plane and get back to the States. Simple, but our mission was only to gather information and rescue Ranger and that's what we wanted to keep it as.

It was three days before everything was fully set into motion. The fake bank accounts had been set up and I now had three mansions, an apartment building, a hotel and a lighthouse under my name. Almost all our supplies had been delivered to a villa that would act as our base while in Brazil.

The day before we were due to fly out, I was to make contact with Medeiros and arrange a meeting. It was a hell of a lot easier than I expected; I'd simply had to make an appointment with his secretary for the coming Thursday at nine am and we were set. Unbelievable, but I guess mastermind criminals had a need to be efficient businessmen as well. She'd asked me a few questions about the purpose of the meeting, my name, etc.

It was bright and early on Monday when we climbed aboard Ranger's sleek black jet and set course for Brazil. We were landing in a private airport, only half an hour's drive from where we were making base. The only supplies we had with us were clothing and the weapons we usually carried. The flight was smooth, the landing less so, however we found our three requested Hummers off to the side of the tarmac, waiting for us. Some customs officers met us as we disembarked, quickly examining our passports before waving us on.

"Welcome to Brazil, Senhorita Adams," the man who checked my passport called to me, "I hope your business here will prove successful."

I frowned as I climbed into one of the Hummers, I didn't like the fact that Medeiros already had an eye on me.

"Relax, Steph. I would have thought it unusual if he had not have had a man here. He's got to protect his business," Tank muttered as he climbed behind the wheel.

"I guess," I sighed.

"We're just laying low for the next few days, until we meet him. There'll be nothing for them to report to their boss, that's if they even manage to follow us. We've done this before, Bombshell, you'll just have to trust us," Tank pressed further, staring at me intently as we waited for the other guys to start their cars.

"I do. With my life and I know Ranger trusts you with his, but there can be no room for errors," I replied softly, worrying my bottom lip with my teeth.

"There won't be. We want him back just as much as you do."

As Tank promised, we spent the next few days quietly. Our spacious villa was located in a secluded area and was a starkly modern building done in white with lots of glass. The guys informed me it was bullet proof, but it still made me a little nervous, anyone could just look in. Although, to get in they had to get past the ridiculous security measures; I felt like we were in Fort Knox. But the villa had a large pool, a decent gym and a spa, so I wasn't complaining. Not to mention the 60 inch televisions. Most our time however, was spent just checking and rechecking to make sure everything we'd requested had been supplied. Especially the spare tyres.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued…<em>


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.

Warnings: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.

* * *

><p>CHAPTER THREE<p>

_SPOV_

I awoke early on the Thursday, unable to sleep any longer. My blood was pumping. I was excited and nervous. Today was the day we were meeting Medeiros and organizing the purchase of Ranger. I swam in the large lap pool for an hour or so, before getting dressed for the day and joining Ram and Lester for breakfast. We ate in a tense silence, all of us concentrating on the tasks before us. Ram was going to go with me to the meeting, while Lester was charged with cutting the power for sixty seconds, to allow me to attach a tap to the phone and a tracer to the computer if I could manage it. Bobby, Bones and Tank had already left for the day, hours before first light; they were making the long drive to the plantation to do surveillance.

"Let's get you wired for sound, and then we can go," Ram murmured, handing me the tiny mic. The top button on my dress already had a camera inside it somehow.

I taped the miniature mic, which I usually used on distractions, under my breast. We tested it for sound, checked the camera was working and then Ram and I were jumping in one of the Hummers to meet Medeiros.

His office building wasn't large or assuming. It was a gorgeous, old, five story building that had been converted into offices. The exterior walls were a rich yellow/orange and the windows were prettily done in white. The only thing that gave away it was a business was the security guard that stood outside the door in a crisp suit. Ram pulled the car into the underground parking lot as directed. We were greeted at the elevator by another security guard that accompanied us straight up to the fifth floor. The interior of the building was nothing like the exterior. It was the epitome of a modern office, done in shades of whites, black and greys. The only colour came from bright paintings that were placed along the walls at regular intervals.

I was silently shown into Medeiros' large office space. Ram was told to wait outside. I looked around curiously and spotted an obvious camera and two hidden ones. Walking slowly behind the desk, I placed my back to all the cameras, staring out the enormous bay windows, my eyes not focusing on anything. Tucking my hands into the pockets of my stylish grey shirt-dress, I slowly strolled the length of the windows, before removing my hands, the bugs now safely hidden between my fingers. I touched the lovely blooming orchid that sat in the corner of the office, placing an audio bug in the pot. Trailing my fingers back along the length of the window sill, I placed another. I moved around the desk and inspected the photos and paintings that hung on both walls, leaving another two bugs. Finally, having placed all I could with the power still on, I carefully sat down in one of the chairs facing Medeiros' desk and waited.

Thirty seconds later, the power flickered out and I was up, quickly dismantling the phone and placing the small tapping device on the correct wire. I dropped to my knees, attacking the computer tower and placing a similar device inside so that Ram could later hack in and copy what we needed.

Rushing over to the door, I started pounding on it, pretending to yell frantically, "What's happening? Why is this door locked? Ram!" All the while I was placing a tiny camera above the doorway.

When Ram didn't answer me, I felt my anxiety level kick up a notch. When the power still hadn't come back on, I went from anxious to alert. Something was wrong. I heard the faint echo of gun fire and froze. That wasn't part of the plan. My tasks now complete, I rattled the door handle and started banging on the door in earnest.

"Ram?" I called again, drawing my gun from the holster I had strapped to my thigh under my dress. I heard footsteps approaching and danced a few quick steps back from the door.

It swung open and there was Medeiros with a handful of body guards. He raised an eyebrow at my gun, but held out his hand for me to take. Wearily, I accepted it, dropping my gun down by my side. As I did so, I brushed my hand against the pocket of his light jacket, dropping a tracker and bug inside.

"Come now, Senhorita Stephanie. It is not safe here at present. There is a riot occurring across the entire city. The government has switched the power off to all buildings. We must go, now. I have a villa not too far out of town," Medeiros murmured softly, giving my hand a small squeeze as he led me from his office and down the hall to the stairs. I looked around but couldn't spot any sign of Ram. Where the hell was he? Had Medeiros found us out? Was he taking me somewhere to kill me?

"Where is my body guard?" I demanded in a voice much braver than I was feeling.

"He is being treated by my physician. I owe him my life. We were coming to get you when a group of rioters entered the building, guns blazing. He took a bullet for me," Medeiros admitted.

I felt the blood drain out of my face. Ram was hit? How could a simple plan to meet with Medeiros and place some bugs turn into a full blown crisis? The one day we pick to bug his office and there is a riot? Really, shit like this only seemed to happen to me.

"I – is he?" I stuttered.

"He is fine, Senhorita, I will take you to him now. Then we must go, yes?" Medeiros pressed.

I nodded dumbly and started to tuck my gun away when Medeiros' hand caught mine.

"Best keep that out for the moment, yes?" he requested. Again I nodded.

We quietly moved down a few flights of stairs, Medeiros' men flanking us on all sides. At the third floor, we left the staircase and quickly made our way down to the far end of the hall. It was there we found Ram. Medeiros' physician was just finishing up.

As soon as Ram spotted me, he was up off the bed, strolling towards me.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded, his eyes sweeping from my gun and over to Medeiros and his men suspiciously. I quickly placed my gun back in its holster.

"No, thank you, Ram," I replied, taking hold of his arm gently so I could inspect his wound that the physician had just stitched up. It was clean, the stiches tidy.

"A bandage, sir?" I addressed the doctor. He handed me a roll of the white stretchy material and I quickly doctored up Ram's arm.

"Are you always so friendly with your bodyguards, Senhorita Stephanie?" Medeiros inquired curiously.

"Yes. I make an effort to be good friends with every member on my security team. If I treated them poorly, then I could not be certain whether they would protect me when I needed it. Besides, friendship does have some _other _benefits," I murmured slyly, giving Medeiros a wink.

He chuckled. I swear Ram practically blushed.

"Shall we go, now?" Medeiros queried.

"Please," I agreed. Ram pressed a hand against my lower back and we fell into step beside Medeiros.

"We should be able to safely access our vehicles in the underground parking. We'll take the back streets to get out of the city. If you stick close to us, you should not get lost," Medeiros explained.

We caught the elevator down to the garage and climbed into our cars. Ram took the wheel and soon we were off, racing out of the city, away from the conflict.

"What happened, Ram?" I sighed, watching the buildings flash past as we tailed Medeiros.

"Lester didn't cut the power, he radioed in as soon as it went out, letting me know he hadn't touched jack shit. I did some recon, saw the people down in the streets, shooting windows, lighting fires – it was crazy. I made my way down stairs, looking for the security team. Some of the rioters burst through the front doors. I shot them all down, didn't realize I was shot until Medeiros placed a hand on my shoulder and told me to come get medical attention. I didn't even realize he was standing behind me. Fucking hell, talk about FUBAR," he muttered.

"I thought we'd been found out, that Medeiros had already had you killed and was planning the same for me," I whispered.

It was close to an hour's journey to get to Medeiros' villa. The villa itself was breathtaking, two stories of beautiful cream architecture with terracotta tiles and coloured highlights. The gardens surrounding it were pristine. Ram parked the car behind Medeiros' and we clambered out.

"If you'll follow me?" Medeiros invited. We entered his beautiful house, which was very tastefully decorated on the inside. Ram stayed practically glued to my side. "Shall we conduct business in here?" he offered, indicating a cosy sitting room off of the main hallway.

I nodded and stepped inside, however as Ram made to follow me, one of Medeiros' men placed a hand on his chest and shoved him backwards. Turning slowly, I stared hard at the man who touched Ram until he dropped his head and took a few steps back. I met Medeiros' eyes and raised both my eyebrows.

"Considering the events of this morning, I would prefer it if Ram were not to leave my side," I said carefully.

"I can appreciate that, Senhorita," Medeiros acknowledged softly.

"I would also prefer it if your men kept their hands to themselves," I added lightly, moving into the room and choosing a seat in the corner, my back to the wall, where I could watch the door and windows. Ram leant against the wall behind me, observing. His arm had to be hurting like a bitch.

Medeiros calmly selected a seat across from me, two of his bodyguards taking up positions just inside the doorway.

"So, Senhorita Stephanie, you are interested in purchasing some of my _merchandise_," he stated thoughtfully, a little chuckle leaving his lips.

"Yes, that's right," I agreed, somewhat puzzled. Had I not covered this on the phone with his secretary?

"And how did you find out about my operation, Senhorita?" he inquired softly, his eyes staring into mine. I made sure not to look away as I answered.

"I let a few hints drop around a few very select people that I was in the market. Your name came up. I did some research and made contact. Now here we are," I replied, lifting my hands in a half shrug.

"I'm curious as to why a woman such as yourself would have a need to buy men?" he said, leaning forward a little in his chair.

"I'm starting a very exclusive ladies club in the States and I need attractive, exotic men to wait, bartend, dance, strip and provide pleasurable services for my customers," I claimed, smiling coyly.

"How many are we talking?" Medeiros demanded almost eagerly.

"Initially, I shall want to inspect them, see if the men you've collected are what I am looking for. The first one I purchase will be for my _private_ use. But, I think I shall like to buy an additional fifteen," I answered, watching Medeiros' eyes light up in glee.

"Then I shall give you free reign! You may choose any man you like, even one of my men if you so desire," he exclaimed excitedly.

"I thank you for your generosity," I said politely, bowing my head to him slightly, a large grin on my face.

"I shall arrange for Lucas Hernández, my right hand man, to give you a tour and come to a financial arrangement once you have made your choice. Say, next week, Wednesday?" he offered.

I thought it over in my mind. That would give us six days to gather all the intelligence we needed to fulfil our mission. I hoped the information we'd gather from Medeiros' office in Belém and what the guys recorded today at the plantation would suffice.

"That will be perfect." I nodded.

"Ten am, at my plantation."

"Thank you, Thiago," I purred slightly, noticing his eyes darken. I fought back a gag; this is what I had to do. "It's a pleasure doing business with you," I answered, laying on the charm. If there were any problems purchasing Ranger at the plantation, I wanted to know Medeiros liked me, or the money I would bring him, enough to allow me to buy their American prisoner.

"I can assure you Senhorita, the pleasure is mine. Até a próxima minha meiga senhorita," he whispered, almost seductively. I held back a shiver and merely smiled.

Ram offered his hand to me, helping me out of my chair. I guessed that meant the meeting was over. Medeiros gave me a nod and a smile as we exited the room. One of Medeiros' bodyguards showed us to the front door. Ram and I were silent as we climbed into the Hummer, and remained silent until we were a good ten minutes away from the Villa.

"What did Medeiros say to me?" I wondered, watching as Ram's knuckles tightened on the steering wheel.

"Basically, until next time my sweet lady. He's attracted to you, I don't like it, and neither will the guys," he huffed. I bit back a grin. Ram was trying to protect my honour.

"Ram, relax. He's not going to try anything," I tried to reassure him.

"How do you know?" he demanded.

"Because we won't be seeing him again." _I hope. _Unless we ran into some kind of trouble.

Ram grunted and said nothing further. It was a little over two hours before we arrived back at our own Villa.

We debriefed Lester and checked in with the other guys who wouldn't be back until dark. The audio and visual footage I'd collected today was duplicated and then Ram got to work on activating the bugs and camera I'd placed. He'd refused any pain meds, stating they'd make him loose focus. However, I'd forced him to take the antibiotics as Bones had instructed. We didn't need anyone getting an infection.

"I managed to place a couple of bugs in his Villa," Ram murmured, pulling up another screen on his laptop and activating a few more bugs.

"I got a bug and tracker in his pocket," I returned happily.

"You win," Ram chuckled, "Now let's hack into his computer."

I left Ram to it and went to make us a couple of sandwiches for lunch. When I'd returned, he had a wide grin spread across his face as he downloaded file after file.

"We've hit the jack pot. There is enough information here alone for Caver to be more than satisfied. The audio we got today is just further evidence. Look, here. This file contains all the financial transactions between Medeiros and his buyers. Caver and his people can trace these bank account numbers. And here, this file contains all the dates of his special shipments, where they were going, and who signed off on the shipment here and overseas. This folder contains employee files for all his men, and this one, here, contains files on all the men Medeiros has captured. Now this folder, here is the real beauty, it has a great deal of disturbing information on a number of prominent politicians."

"Medeiros is blackmailing them?" I wondered, sitting forward in my chair to get a better look at the screen. I couldn't understand a word of it though, it was all in Portuguese.

"Looks like it," Ram snorted.

"So this will be enough for Caver to deem our mission complete, right?" I fretted quietly.

"Steph, if this doesn't satisfy him, nothing will. Don't worry, our contract is tight. We've completed all of our legal obligations. If the government tries to back out on anything, our lawyer will have them by the balls and sue them for all their worth. Okay?" Ram wondered, turning away from the computer to give my hand a squeeze.

"Yeah. I'm just worried about Ranger, you know?" I said, shrugging my shoulders and blinking back the prickling of tears.

"I know, Steph. We're almost there," Ram reassured me.

"Open up that folder, the one with the captured men. Let's see Ranger's file," I requested. "I want to know if he's still there." _Alive_. The guys said they hadn't spotted him yet when we checked in.

Ram sorted through hundreds, if not thousands of files until he found the one we were looking for. I couldn't understand it, of course, and waited patiently for Ram to read through all the information. What I could understand was the thumbnail sized photo of Ranger's face.

"So?" I whispered as Ram sat back.

"He's still on the plantation. Says he's not for sale. Obviously they want to keep him quiet. Might have our work cut out for us," Ram muttered.

"I won't be leaving without him," I vowed angrily, bristling at even the merest suggestion that if things got tough we'd call it quits.

"We're all in this together, Steph. None of us will be leaving until we have him," Ram promised. I nodded and drifted away, leaving him to do his work.

_We're almost there, Ranger. Hang on. _

* * *

><p><em>To be continued…<em>


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.

Warnings: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.

* * *

><p>CHAPTER FOUR<p>

_SPOV_

The next six days were awful. Waiting. I hated waiting. We listened and recorded anything the bugs picked up, along with any conversations that occurred on the phone we'd tapped. Most was actually to do with exporting bananas. However, there were a few conversations that we could add to our collection of evidence. We went over the plan daily. Enter the plantation, inspect the men, purchase Ranger and get the hell out. The guys had briefed Ram, Lester and me on the general layout of the plantation and the security system.

We were up at 3 am, on the Wednesday. The vehicles we'd packed the night before with all the supplies we thought we might need: weapons, copies of all our information, money, and of course first aid materials. We had no idea what kind of condition Ranger would be in.

I was dressed in a pretty little knee length flirty skirt and a tight top that showcased my breasts to perfection.

Bones, Ram and I hopped into the first Hummer. Tank and Lester were in the second, and Bobby drove the third. It was a six and a half hour journey to the plantation, and I seized the time to catch up on lost sleep.

~*S*R*~

A large pothole jolted me awake. I blinked as I looked around us, the sun now shining brightly. Glancing at my watch, I noted it was a little after eight. Not long now.

We drove along the uneven dirt road, through tiny villages and places that seemed to belong to another time, hundreds of years ago. We were surrounded by tropical rainforests on all sides and I was very thankful for the air-conditioning in the cars. It seemed impossible that there could be a large banana plantation hidden amongst this beautiful landscape. After some time, our dirt road met up with a two lane fully sealed road that cut an ugly swath through the seemingly unspoilt rainforest.

Around fifteen minutes before we were to reach our destination, Bobby pulled away from our convoy, disappearing down an almost unnoticeable dirt track. He'd be our backup if anything went wrong.

When we reached the Medeiros Plantation, it was like looking at a spaceship in the dessert. It stuck out like a sore thumb. There were six foot tall fences, with barbed wire racing along the top. The automated gate allowed us entry to the road that continued further into the compound. A large driveway circled in front of the main building that appeared to be an office and perhaps sleeping quarters for all the _workers_. Beyond that I could see an enormous open shed. To the right of the main building was another shed, this one housing trucks and a couple of forklifts. Behind all the buildings, was row after row of bananas. I didn't even want to know how the guys had done surveillance here the other day and remained unseen.

The guys pulled the vehicles to a stop in front of the main building. A man in army cargo pants, a tight white singlet and an open shirt, flanked by four heavily armed men, exited the office as we all climbed out of our vehicles. I instantly noticed the humidity, wrapping around us like a glove. The casually dressed man stepped forward to greet me, his hands gripping both my arms as he pressed a kiss to each cheek. Bones, Ram, Tank and Lester all tensed as soon as the man grabbed me, their guns out and centred on him. The man's guards shifted a little on their feet, but did not raise their weapons in retaliation.

"Senhorita Adams, please call off your men. My name is Lucas Hernández and I am here to assist you and organize our transaction," Hernández murmured too smoothly. The guy was a creep.

Wearily, I nodded to my guys and they lowered their weapons.

"If you will please follow me, I shall show you the men," Hernández offered.

I stepped slowly forward beside him. The guys tried to follow me and suddenly, the guards had their weapons up, pointed on my men.

"Hey!" I snarled, taking a step back to the guys. Hernández grabbed hold of my wrist gently. I paused.

"I am afraid, Senhorita, that I must request your men to wait by your vehicles," Hernández said carefully, slowly releasing my arm.

"Why?" I cried, glaring at him and his guards who still had not lowered their weapons.

"While you may know and trust them, Senhorita, I frankly do not. They must wait here," Hernández retorted.

I made eye contact with Tank. He looked furious but gave me a small nod. He knew I could take care of myself, and that this would likely be our only chance of getting Ranger out.

"Alright. We shall be only one hour at most," I stated, daring Hernández to refute me. That way, if I wasn't back within the hour, the guys would know something had gone wrong.

Hernández gave a signal to his men. They lowered their weapons. One took up post outside the office, watching the guys while the other three guards surrounded Hernández and myself in a loose circle.

"While the plantation has been operating for the better part of two decades, our little people smuggling operation has been going strong for the past five years," Hernández drawled in his slightly accented voice as we moved around the main building, heading towards the enormous shed. Even from here, I could see the assembly lines of men working hard in the heat.

He continued speaking, but I stopped listening until we stepped under the shade of the shed's roof.

"And now you begin your inspection, yes?" he asked.

I nodded, my eyes slowly surveying the shed. Guards were situated every ten yards with automatic machine guns, and what looked to be electric prodders. The workers had their feet shackled together, attached to the work benches and conveyor belts in front of them. Their hand were also shackled together, with two feet of chain separating their hands, giving them just enough room to work, but not enough to do so comfortably. Most of them had raw wrists and ankles where the restraints rubbed against their skin.

I stepped forward, moving down the centre of the shed, inspecting men on each side of me, pretending to do so carefully all the while I was searching for any sign of Ranger. Ten yards down the line, I felt him, a tingle on the back of my neck that raced down my spine. I looked up and spotted him then, he was another twenty so yards down, but his head was turned towards me slightly, his eyes staring at me almost in disbelief. Desire shot through me as his eyes pinned me in their gaze growing warmer the longer he looked at me, stealing my breath. There was a few days' worth of stubble on his face, giving him a more rugged look. His hair had been cut, now just brushing against his neck, a little above his shoulders. I swallowed my excitement, and continued my charade. I ached to run forward and wrap my arms around him. Knowing I couldn't made me want it even more; I needed to touch him to make sure he was real, that he was really there, alive. I paused five or so men up from Ranger, and pretended to seriously consider the man in front of me. It was so difficult when all my attention was focused on Ranger. The man before me was handsome, quite young, but a little scrawnier than the other men.

"Not enough muscles," I remarked to Hernández. He and his guards chuckled.

I continued to slowly meander down the shed, stopping when I finally reached Ranger. I examined the back of him for a few long minutes, playing it up for Hernández and his men while really I was taking stock of his injuries, watching as he had trouble moving and lifting everything. I wanted to help him, to ease his pain, to stop this torture he was enduring. He didn't deserve this; he was a good man.

"Turn around," I ordered, forcing my voice to be harsh when all I wanted to do was cry, throw myself into his arms and tell him how much I loved him.

Ranger turned slowly, his face a careful blank mask. His eyes still burned a trail along my skin as they traced over me from head to toe. God I wanted him.

"I want him," I demanded roughly, turning my head towards Hernández all the while I kept my eyes on Ranger.

"That one is not for sale," Hernández replied slowly.

I turned away from Ranger fully now, facing Hernández with a hard glare. My heart was pounding, if he refused to sell me Ranger, things were about to get real ugly, real fast. I was getting him out of here no matter what. His silent presence behind me gave me strength; I wished he'd just lean forward and encase me in his arms.

"I believe, the agreement was, I could have any man I liked. Your boss said I could even have you if I wanted. Shall we call him and make him come all the way down here so he can yell at you?" I snarled. Hernández considered me for a moment, before deciding I was in fact serious.

"He's not cheap," he stated, folding his arms across his chest.

"What price?" I challenged.

"Senhorita, no disrespect, but I do not think you can afford –"

I swiftly withdrew my gun that I had tucked under my skirt, pressing it against Hernández's temple. I heard the guards startle and the click of their weapons as they aimed them at me.

"What price?" I growled vehemently, ignoring the men. Surely they realized their boss would be dead long before they could get a shot off if I wanted to kill him.

"Five and a half," he stammered.

I didn't even blink, simply clicked the safety back on my gun and made a move to tuck it away when a single shot echoed and I felt my arm burn. Ranger flinched against his shackles. I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip; it took all of my effort not to cry out or drop my gun. Shakily, I finished putting my gun back in its holster and turned. I locked my eyes on the bastard who shot me. He was young, maybe only seventeen, and he looked nervous, and surprised that his weapon had discharged. I faced a pale Hernández. He seemed more shaken that I had been shot than I was. His eyes glanced down at my arm where I was shot, but I refused to look at it, knowing as soon as I did, I'd feel the pain tenfold.

"Five and a half for him? He's not _that _special. Good to look at, certainly. But, he's undernourished, half starved to death really. Not to mention severely dehydrated and he has God knows what diseases. And I see you've taken the liberty of injuring his ribs, dislocating his shoulder and bruising nearly every inch of his body. He's damaged goods. Two and a half," I replied to Hernández, acting as if I hadn't just been shot.

"You insult me Senhorita!" he exclaimed, spitting on the ground.

"I think it is you who is insulting me!" I hissed, "You pretend that this man is not for sale and try to bump up the price when clearly his isn't worth half as much as the rest. He can hardly do anything! I'll have to have him nursed back to reasonable health for six months before he'll be of any use to me. I'll be doing you a favour by taking him off your hands. And let's not forget I'm saving you transportation fees," I snipped, "Or the fact that you _shot _me!"

"Three and a half," he muttered, his eyes once again straying to my arm, before they flickered away.

"Three million, cash. That's my final offer," I snapped, opening the small briefcase I held tightly in my left hand to reveal the cash.

The men around me all erupted in excited chatter, some of the guards stepping forward to get a better look.

"Deal," Hernández sighed, motioning to the nearest guard.

The man stepped forward, unclasping Ranger from the bench, but leaving the shackles on.

"I shall escort you back to your vehicles now, Senhorita," Hernández announced.

I watched wearily as one of the guards nudged Ranger in the back with the butt of his gun. It was slow moving back to the cars. Ranger had a guard on each side of him, while Hernández stuck to my side and three other guards surrounded our little group. I couldn't get close to Ranger even though I desperately wanted to.

_Soon, Steph. Calm down. _

When the cars came in sight, I noticed the guys were already back inside them, waiting. We stopped just before the first Hummer.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you gentlemen. I can take it from here," I murmured, handing over the briefcase. Hernández greedily opened it, pulling out a wad of cash, no doubt examining it to see whether it was real. He gave me a nod and a wide smile.

"Until next time, Senhorita Adams," he agreed, nodding to his men. They stepped back from Ranger, taking up position behind Hernández.

I stepped around Ranger, opening the backdoor of the Hummer.

"In!" I barked, keeping up pretences in front of Hernández and his men. My nerves were on end, my emotions were starting to unravel.

Ranger gave a single nod and gingerly climbed in. I closed the door with a quiet snap and jumped into the passenger's seat. Ram gave me a small smile before starting the car and performing a U-turn, pointing the car back towards the automated gate. Tank and Lester were right behind us.

No one breathed, let alone moved until we were outside the property, the gate closed behind us.

My hands shaking, I flung off my seatbelt and dived over the centre console, climbing into the backseat. Bones already had the pair of bolt cutters in hand, freeing Ranger from his shackles.

"Ranger," I murmured, wrapping my arms around his neck, hugging him gently, trying not to hurt him. He squeezed me tightly against his chest, dragging me into his lap as he buried his face in my hair.

"Babe," he uttered softly, pressing a kiss to my neck as he held me. That one little word that meant so much.

"I missed you," I whispered, no longer able to hold my tears back. Our lips met in a tender kiss, brushing softly against each other. Ranger pulled back first, cupping my face with one hand as his other stayed wrapped around me.

"I love you," he admitted, his rough fingers brushing against my soft cheek.

"What?" I said breathlessly, staring into his dark molten eyes.

"Had a lot of time to think, Babe. I love you," he repeated, his eyes imploring me to believe him.

"I love you too, Ranger," I sobbed, relief pounding through my body. Ranger was safe and he _loved _me.

"Better call me Carlos from now on, Babe," he suggested, smiling at me affectionately.

"Carlos," I sighed.

His fingers tangled themselves in my curls and our lips met again, this time our kiss full of heat and passion. I breathed in the scent of Carlos, enjoying the feel of his muscles wrapped around me, making me feel safe.

"Alright, love birds, break it up. You both need treating," Bones instructed firmly. I slowly slid off Carlos' lap, but held one of his hands tightly in mine. He leant over and pressed a kiss to my temple as Bones set to work assessing his injuries.

"Cracked ribs, serious bruising, dislocated shoulder, dehydrated, superficial wounds to wrists and ankles. Hope they don't get infected," Bones muttered to himself as he assessed Carlos. I smiled sadly; I'd recognised all of his injuries. Bones quickly had Carlos' wrists and ankles doused in antiseptic and wrapped in fresh bandages.

As Bones was doing that, Carlos pulled a wad of gauze out of Bones' kit and handed it to me with another soft kiss.

I pressed it against my arm that was now hurting like hell, and tried to soak up some of the blood that had trickled down my arm. I hated getting shot.

"Babe." Carlos frowned, still looking down at me. He lifted my arm gently and brushed a finger along the right side of my rib cage, just down from my breast. I sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a sharp hiss.

_Ouch_, _that hurt_.

I chanced a look down and noticed the silver glint of a bullet.

_There was a bullet lodged in my ribcage! _

"Oh!" I panicked. His eyes were staring intently at me, flickering from the hole in my arm to the bullet in the side of my chest. I could feel him tense, his anger starting to bubble; I watched him change right before my eyes. I grabbed his hand in mine, squeezing to let him know I was okay. His eyes didn't change, if anything, the look in them got more sinister.

_Shit_.

I watched Bones reach across Carlos to take a gentle hold of my wrist, feeling my pulse, when suddenly Carlos had a hand around Bones' throat, pushing him roughly against the door.

"Ranger, you need to relax. She's going to be fine. I'm not going to hurt her," Bones stated quietly, his voice calm.

I watched Carlos slowly release him and turn back to me. His fingers curled under my chin and he tipped my face up for a sweet kiss.

"Steph, you need to calm down or you're going to set him off. He's in survivor mode, and right now he's worried about you," Bones cautioned. I nodded, taking a couple of deep breaths. Bones turned to Carlos, making eye contact with him. "Ranger, put a pad on each side of her arm and bandage it up," Bones commanded, already handing Carlos the supplies. Carlos worked quickly and gently. "Good. Ranger, I want you to move over so Steph can take your seat; there's not much I can do for you until we get you to a hospital. I need to take care of Steph," Bones said, staring at Carlos intently. Carlos gave a slow nod, and lifted me off of the seat into his lap. He slid over into my seat and deposited me on his left side, keeping an arm tightly around my waist.

"I'm okay, Carlos," I whispered to him. He dipped his head, resting it on my shoulder as Bones set to work, removing the bullet.

"Lucky your arm slowed it down and your ribs caught it, otherwise you'd have a punctured lung, not to mention a whole heap of bone fragments spread around in there," Bones mentioned as he carefully removed the bullet. I flinched and whimpered as he rubbed the area with alcohol. "Think your ribs are fractured, these two here. You'll need an x-ray," he added, lifting my shirt up so he could place a dressing down on the wound, taping it against my skin to hold it in place.

"You finished?" Carlos demanded, his voice rough.

Bones lifted his head from inspecting my arm and watched Carlos carefully for a moment.

"For now, she'll need to be checked over when we get to a hospital," he replied.

Without warning, Carlos had scooped me up, back into his lap. His arms locked around me tightly, and I couldn't help but worry about his injuries. I felt his hand on the back of my head, carefully encouraging me to rest it on his shoulder. Dropping my head, I closed my eyes and breathed him in again.

The hard part was over now; we'd rescued Carlos. Now all we had to do was get out of the country.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued…<em>


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.

Warnings: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.

* * *

><p>CHAPTER FIVE<p>

_Meanwhile, back at the Plantation_

Hernández watched the vehicles pull out of the gate and flipped his cell phone open.

"Speak," Medeiros ordered. He was presently lying on his private beach in Chile, with his newly acquired fourth wife. She was a twenty something year old model; he couldn't believe his luck. He also didn't want to be disturbed. His new wife had just removed her bikini top.

"Sir, Senhorita Adams has just left," Hernández began, reporting back to his boss.

"And," Medeiros wondered impatiently. He wanted to know how much the lovely Miss Adams had just paid him.

"She wanted Manoso," Hernández answered cautiously.

"What? Manoso was not for sale!" Medeiros shouted, startling his new bride as she slipped out of her bikini bottoms. She smiled coyly over her shoulder at him, beckoning him into the warm ocean.

"Sir, you said she could have anyone she liked, _anyone_," Hernández emphasised, "She paid three million for him, cash."

"I know what I said Lucas. Manoso was not part of that arrangement, no matter how much she was willing to pay. He must not be allowed to escape. I want you to go after them and retrieve him! Do whatever it takes, even if that means killing Senhorita Adams, but I would prefer it if you captured her," Medeiros ordered standing and shedding his swim trunks. "Unless you have something good to report, don't call me! And if you don't catch him, you're out of a job."

Medeiros flipped his phone shut, and dropped it on his towel. He'd worry about Manoso later; right now he had a willing naked woman to worry about.

~*S*R*~

_SPOV_

I pressed soft kisses against Carlos' neck every so often, trying to get him to relax. Bobby had just pulled out in front of us, sandwiching our car between the other two.

Carlos' body tensed suddenly, making me anxious.

"What is it?" I whispered, trying to pull back so I could gaze at his face. His hand, however, kept my head pressed down on his shoulder.

"They're following us," Carlos snarled, his voice vibrating through my body. I froze as I took in his words. I listened carefully and could only just barely detect the noise of the other vehicles over our own three.

"We got company," Lester reported, his voice crackling around us over the radio.

"Rodger that," Ram copied.

"I'll try and circle back around behind them. Once we go around this bend, I'll head into the rainforest," Bobby answered.

"Three vehicles, approaching fast. Looks like two men to each open topped jeep. I'll climb out the sun roof and try to slow them down with a few grenades once they get closer," Lester offered, "If that doesn't work, I'll do some target practice," he finished, chuckling a little.

Ram agreed and the radio fell silent. I turned a little in Carlos' lap so I could see out the front windscreen and Ram's side mirror. We rounded the bend, and Bobby's Hummer disappeared quickly into the dense vegetation. Just as well, too, as the men had almost caught up to us. I heard the faint rattle of automatic gunfire and inhaled a deep breath, trying not to worry. My eyes were glued to the side mirror, where I could make out Tank and Lester's Hummer right behind us and a jeep not twenty yards behind them.

I watched Lester pop his head out of the top of the vehicle, before he jumped up and threw a grenade at the jeep closest to them, diving quickly back inside the Hummer. A loud explosion echoed around us, a billow of black smoke rising from the now destroyed jeep.

"Whoop! One down, two to go!" Lester shouted excitedly through the radio.

Carlos growled under his breath, something that sounded a lot like; _just do your fucking job, Santos_.

I stared out the side mirror, noticing the other two jeeps had dropped back a bit, out of throwing range.

"Bobby's just come up behind the far jeep," Lester reported. Silence fell around us until Lester spoke again. "The fuckers are dead, way to go Bobby!" he cheered. I rolled my eyes.

My eyes stayed on Tank's Hummer as Lester again climbed out of the top. He'd barely raised his arm to throw the grenade when I saw him flinch suddenly before crumbling back inside the vehicle. The grenade fell short, blowing a deep crater in the bitumen instead.

"Fuck, Lester's hit. I'm going to swing across into the other lane. Bones, you go through your sunroof and try to take them down while Lester gets his shit together," Tank rumbled.

Tank swerved off to the left, leaving us a clear target. Ram hit a button and the sunroof slid open. Bones had a gun in each hand as he slowly climbed onto the seat, sticking his head and then half his torso out of the car.

I cringed as I heard bullets flying, pinging against the Hummer and suddenly found myself dumped off Carlos' lap, his hand under my skirt as he retrieved my gun.

I watched in amazement as he quickly rolled down the window and sat on the door frame, using one hand to hold on as he hung half out the window. With two shots, he killed both men in the remaining jeep before sliding back into the car.

"Boss! I had them," Bones protested as he climbed back inside.

"Bullshit. You've never been able to hit a moving target," Carlos muttered, drawing me against his side as he settled back into the seat.

My mouth was hanging open unattractively in shock. Carlos slid a finger under my jaw and closed it for me, before kissing the corner of my mouth warmly.

"I, you're hurt, how?" I stammered softly.

"Babe. Wasn't going to let them hurt you," he clarified. I blinked back tears and rested my head back on his shoulder.

Somewhere on the six hour journey back to our villa, I fell asleep. When I awoke again, I was laying on the couch inside, my head nestled in Carlos' lap. Lester sat across from us in a chair, his shirt off, and a bandage wrapped around his shoulder and his chest. I could hear the other guys moving around outside.

"How you feeling, Steph?" Carlos inquired, running a hand through my hair. I twisted around so I lay on my back, looking up at his handsome face. He smiled at me and I noticed his eyes were calm once again, his anger now gone, or at least under control.

"I should be the one asking you that," I said, yawning sleepily.

"I'm fine, Babe. Be better once we get out of this country," he answered.

I reached up and traced his face with my fingers.

_He was really there. _

Seeming to read my anxiousness, his head dipped down and his lips tenderly caressed mine.

"Oh, I see how it is. No one cares how _I _feel," Lester grumbled, drawing my attention. I bit back a smile as Carlos pulled back from me, frustrated. The heat from his eyes let me know exactly what he had planned for us later once we were alone. No matter how much pain I was in now, I knew nothing would stop me from being with him. I'd ached for him for years; the past eight months not knowing whether he was dead or alive had eaten away at me slowly. I needed to feel that connection with him, flesh to flesh, our bodies joined as one.

"How are you, Lester?" I wondered, chuckling as he huffed, but not taking my eyes off of Carlos'. Their intensity made me burn.

"Never better," Lester mumbled. Carlos had his lips pressed against mine again, kissing me passionately.

Tank, Ram, Bobby and Bones entered the lounge room, one of them coughing loudly to break us up.

"We're all set. Plane will be ready to take off as soon as we get there," Tank informed us.

I slowly sat up, frowning as my ribs ached and my arm throbbed as I stood. Carlos was already on his feet by the time I turned around to face him. His arm wrapped around my waist and we both moved slowly as we made our way out to the Hummers. It was nearing dusk; darkness was falling around us as we climbed inside the cars. We took only the two this time, with no need for the third.

Carlos again pulled me into his side as we made the short thirty minute trip to the private airport. No officials met us this time. What we needed to take with us was unloaded into the cargo hold. Carlos and I took seats side by side, the others spread out in the plane.

We were quickly off the ground, flying into the night.

~*S*R*~

"Babe, wake up," a delightfully familiar voice washed over me.

"Mmmm," I hummed as his mouth covered mine in a wonderful kiss, "Where are we?" I wondered as I pulled away, lifting my head off his shoulder and opening my eyes. We were still on the plane, but it looked like we'd just recently landed at an airport as we were slowly taxiing along the runway. It was dark outside, however the tarmac was lit up like Christmas and all the buildings surrounding the runway still had all their lights on.

"D.C, Babe. Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility," Carlos responded, his voice more than a little amused. I suppose it was a bit funny that I'd managed to sleep through almost half of the flight and the landing. Wait, D.C?

"Ugh, Caver," I groaned, thumping my head back against the headrest.

"Gotta get debriefed," Carlos rationalized softly.

"No-one is getting debriefed until we get everyone to the hospital. Ram, Lester and Stephanie need their bullet wounds inspected and you need a full examination Ranger," Bones grumbled, unbuckling and climbing out of his seat. He glanced out a window and cursed. "Caver is fucking waiting for us, the bastard. Right. Here's what we need to do, Ranger take that t-shirt off. I'm going to wrap you up around your ribs and shoulder. Everyone else, play up your injuries. At least Steph's covered in blood," Bones said, working quickly to bandage Carlos, before giving myself and Ram slings for our arms.

No sooner than our plane had come to a stop and the staircase attached, was Caver already on board. The smile on his face soon dropped as he glanced around the cabin, taking in the four of us who were injured.

"They need a hospital, now," Bones demanded, standing up from where he was crouched down in front of me, checking my wound on my side. It had bled through the dressing and was seeping onto my top.

"We need to debrief as soon as possible," Caver muttered. Tank stood up and advanced on Caver. "But, uh, I'm sure a quick trip to the infirmary won't hurt anything," he stammered, taking a step back from Tank.

There were a couple of vehicles on the tarmac beside our plane that Caver nodded to over his shoulder. Bones muttered something under his breath, before wrapping an arm around me and helping me to my feet, I gasped and grabbed my side for dramatic effect, even though it did really hurt like a bitch. Bones helped Carlos to his feet as well, though I was sure Carlos' groan was real. Carlos stumbled and Bones drew me closer so Carlos could wrap an arm around my shoulders and use me as support. Both Lester and Ram slowly stood as well, Bones checking them over before we moved to the staircase. Caver looked impatient. The short journey down the staircase was exceedingly painful. Every step jolted my fractured ribs; I could only imagine how it must be hurting Carlos. We finally made it to the bottom and climbed into a waiting Yukon. Caver sat in the passenger seat up front, while Bones, Carlos and I sat together in the back. The other guys managed to just fit into the other SUV.

When we arrived at the building that housed the infirmary, Bones made Caver and his two men wait outside before ordering the medical staff around left right and centre.

It was hours before we were allowed to leave. Lester had to be operated on to remove the bullet from his shoulder. He was stitched up and dosed up on pain meds and antibiotics. Ram's wound was also examined, but it was healing nicely, and he'd already started a course of antibiotics.

Carlos' shoulder that had been dislocated for God knows how long, had to be put back in place; the doctor telling him he'd never likely recover full mobility and would always suffer from stiffness. Carlos also was started on a drip to get his fluids up, and on antibiotics to prevent and treat potential infection. He had a full body x-ray to determine whether he had any internal injuries. Thankfully, he didn't. They wrapped his ribcage in a tight bandage and told him to rest for the next six weeks. He firmly refused any pain medication.

I was x-rayed; two of my ribs were fractured, and there were some bone shards around where the bullet had entered that had to be painstakingly removed, piece by piece. My wounds were cleaned and stitched up, before being bandaged. I too was given antibiotics to take, and I didn't refuse the pain meds offered. Carlos stayed by my side as much as he could, holding my hand or kissing me softly. The medical staff had to work with him and around him.

We were all allowed to shower once our wounds were covered by waterproof dressings, and were given clean camouflage fatigues to change into. Mine were a bit baggy, but I was so relieved to be out of my blood stained clothes I wasn't going to complain.

I had no idea what the time was when we all finally ventured out of the hospital and back into the waiting vehicles. The first hints of daylight seemed to be appearing on the horizon. I figured it was somewhere between five and six am. We were swiftly driven to another building; this one was six stories high and seemed a lot more official somehow. I assumed it was where we were going to get debriefed and hand over all the information we'd collected.

Caver was there to open the car door, waiting for Bones to get out before he held out a hand to me.

"Don't touch her, Caver," Carlos growled the first words he'd said in hours. Guess Batman wasn't too impressed with how Caver had handled things. Probably wasn't too happy that Caver had sent me in to get him either.

Caver quickly retreated and Bones helped me, then Carlos out of the vehicle. Carlos' arm wrapped around me protectively as we made our way past Caver and inside. Despite all the sleep I'd gotten in the past twenty four hours, I found myself drooping even more as we stepped into the elevators to take us up to the sixth floor.

"The pain meds, Babe," Carlos whispered softly against my ear, kissing my temple as he held me. I nodded in response, turning to bury my face in his chest.

When we reached the sixth floor, Caver led our group to a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway. Entering, I realized it was a large conference room, where a couple of men were already waiting for us inside.

"Pumpkin?" my dad's voice washed over me. I smiled at him weakly, too tired to cross the room to see him. Not to mention I didn't want to leave Carlos' side.

Dad stalked over to us, brushing a few stray curls away from my face before kissing my forehead. He held out a hand to Carlos, shaking it firmly. I think that was my dad's way of saying _welcome to the family_.

"General Plumerri," Carlos said respectfully. My dad waved a hand dismissively.

"You call me Frank, son."

I almost cried, instead choosing to sniffle and give a watery smile to the two most important men in my life.

"Lieutenant Colonel Manoso," the other familiar man greeted Carlos, stepping forward and shaking his hand.

"Lieutenant General Johnson, sir," Carlos responded.

"And little Stephanie, you're a lot bigger than the last time I saw you," Edward Johnson said, turning to me and pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Hi, Uncle Eddie," I laughed gently. I'd been maybe eleven the last time I saw him. He still had the same laugh lines around his mouth as he had when I was a child.

"Caver didn't give you too much trouble I hope?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only a little, dad soon sorted him out," I answered cheekily. Eddie nodded at me, before shooting a stern look at Caver. Guess Uncle Eddie didn't know how unwilling Caver had been to negotiate with me.

Caver was growing paler and paler by the minute.

"Let's sit," Eddie instructed, holding out a chair for me. "And can I say, Manoso, what a fine choice you've made?"

"You may, sir," Carlos laughed, taking the seat beside me, and grasping my hand in both of his.

The meeting was long and drawn out. We had to go over every detail of our mission, explaining all the evidence we'd gathered and where we'd gathered it from. The guys didn't seem too bothered by it, so maybe it was standard procedure. Naturally everything we'd seen, heard and done was classified and would not be released to the public.

"Now, for your remunerations," Caver finally said, moving on from the mission. "As was agreed, ten million dollars will be transferred into the specified account for you to divide amongst yourselves as you see fit." Caver paused, throwing a dark look in my direction.

"Continue, Caver. We're just getting to the good part," Eddie smirked, throwing a wink in my direction.

"Ranger, your final three contracts have been considered complete. Your fiscal compensation has already been transferred to your selected account," Caver rattled off, a somewhat bitterly.

Carlos sat forward in his chair pinning his eyes on Caver.

"Explain," he barked. Nervousness flooded my body; what if he was upset I had negotiated his early retirement?

"Easy, son. The best is still to come," my dad advised.

Carlos didn't move. He simply raised an eyebrow at Caver, waiting.

"This is a onetime only offer. If you so choose it, you can retire with an honourable discharge effective immediately," Caver begrudgingly admitted.

Carlos didn't say anything, his face a blank mask.

"Excuse me?" he growled.

"Ranger, Stephanie negotiated to have you released from your contracts and the army as payment for her services," Tank interjected calmly.

"What? Steph?" Carlos asked, his face a mask of surprise as he turned to stare at me.

"I wanted you to be free to choose the sort of life you wanted. Your options are open now, you can stay in the military, or leave and –" I babbled until he cut me off.

"Stephanie, you amaze me. Caver, I'm out," Carlos said resolutely. Then he cupped my face in his hand and kissed me for all I was worth. "I love you," he whispered so softly against my lips I almost missed it. I smiled and melted back into my chair.

"Right. I believe that settles everything. Do you all have room on that plane for one more?" dad questioned, standing and stretching. Everyone else followed suit.

"Yes, sir, we do," Tank replied.

On the flight back to Trenton, I gave into my pain meds, and fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke again, it was dark outside once more, and I was tucked up in Carlos' large bed at Haywood. I was naked, and the man himself was nowhere to be seen. Sighing contently to myself, I snuggled back under the blankets and waited.

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><p><em>To be continued…<em>


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: While on a mission in Brazil, Ranger gets into some serious trouble. Will Steph and the Merry Men be able to rescue him in time to change his fate? BABE. BABE HEA.

Warnings: Violence, language and things of a sexual nature.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. from the PLUM series are the property of Janet Evanovich. No copyright infringement is intended. I am not making any profit; all credit goes to the aforementioned author.

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><p>CHAPTER SIX<p>

As I was just beginning to doze again, I felt a delicious tingle race down my spine. Twisting onto my back, I propped myself up on my elbows and gazed across the room at the man I loved. He was leaning heavily against the open bedroom door frame, the light from the living room illuminating his fine figure and bathing the bedroom in a soft glow. He slowly walked towards the bed, his movements a little ginger before he sat down heavily by my side, lifting a hand to my face. I smiled at him warmly and nuzzled my cheek into his hand.

"Babe," he said, gazing at me with a soft look in his eyes. His face had been shaved, the stubble that had resided there was now gone. I missed the rugged look, but smooth was so much better.

"Carlos," I answered, leaning forward to give him a kiss. He smiled and drew me into his arms. The sheets fell to my waist, providing a small barrier between us. Our chests pressed together, skin against skin. Goosebumps rose along my arms and my nipples hardened. I loved the feeling of his chest touching mine. I could feel the heat from his groin against mine through the sheet. I wriggled against him, arousal flooding my body.

"Don't think you should take any more of those pills," he announced, chuckling against my hair as I whimpered.

"How long have I been out?" I wondered, running my hands over his shoulders and across his back. I loved the feel of his skin, warm and smooth.

"Eight hours." He pulled back and stared at me, worry shadowing his features.

"Oh," I muttered, "Maybe I'll just take ibuprofen from now on." That way I wouldn't be knocked out all day.

_Sheesh, eight hours!_ _I could have been loving Carlos for eight hours and instead I spent it sleeping!_

With a small smile, he dipped his head down, his mouth meeting mine in a hungry kiss. I tangled my fingers in his short hair, scratching them lightly against his scalp, pulling him closer to me. A sound of pleasure rumbled from his chest, washing over me, heating me up in all the right places.

Carlos lowered me down on his bed. He threw back the sheets and covered my body with his. I shivered as his lips brushed feather light kisses along my jawline. It felt so good to have his body pressing down on mine, reassuring me that he was actually there, with me. Safe. He was safe from Medeiros and his men. The faint scent of his Bvlgari shower gel washed over me, sending my hormones into overdrive. I could feel him hardening against me, as his lips devoured mine, our tongues tangling together, stroking and tasting. It had been too long since we'd been together; almost two years. I'd forgotten how potent he was. He made me lose my mind in the most delicious way.

"Carlos, you're hurt," I protested softly, running my hand through his hair as I took in every inch of his beautiful face. As much as I wanted to share my body with his, I didn't want it at the price of his pain. I would wait for him, forever.

"Babe. I've been waiting for this moment for years," he whispered against my skin as he blazed a trail of hot kisses from my throat to my stomach. "You're hurt worse. Want me to stop?" he asked, his breath tickling me.

"No, don't stop," I begged, shaking my head slowly. I'd hardly even noticed my injuries. My ribs ached and my arm stung, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I wanted him; I wanted to show him how much I loved him; I wanted to feel how much he loved me.

"I'll be gentle," he promised. His hand splayed across my left breast his fingers whispering across my skin as he teased my flesh.

"Carlos!" I cried out as his lips enclosed around my hard nipple, his tongue flicking against it gently in a slow rhythm.

"We're going to make love, and it's going to be good," he murmured, gazing up at me with molten eyes. I could feel his thick member pressing against my leg. My body ached for him; I was already wet, ready. I squirmed beneath him, trying to find some relief. One of his hands grasped my hip lightly, pressing it down into the mattress, holding me still.

Frustrated, I teased, "Just good?"

"Perfect," Carlos replied, his mouth engulfing my right breast, his teeth gently scraping across my skin, shooting heat down my spine.

"I love you," I sighed.

He slid back up my body, his mouth finding mine in another devouring kiss that rocked me to my core. The man kissed like a Sex God.

I reached down and grasped him in my hand, rubbing my thumb gently across the moisture gathered at his tip, squeezing him.

He growled and caught my wrist.

"It's been too long, Babe. You keep that up and I'll explode," Carlos said hoarsely, bringing my hand up to his lips so he could press a lingering kiss to each finger.

I gazed at him through half hooded eyes as he lifted my arm and eased it down above my head.

His hand slid down my body until it cradled the curve of my hip, his fingers gently stroking my skin. I whimpered when his eyes locked on mine. Slowly, his hand slid down until he cupped my aroused sex in his hand. He hissed as his finger parted my folds, finding my slick arousal. I cried out as he brushed against my sensitive flesh, shooting pleasure through my body. He continued to tease me, pleasuring me and driving me closer and closer towards nirvana. I cried out as he eased back, lifting his finger to his mouth and deliberately cleaning off all of my juices. My body was shaking beneath his, trembling with arousal, right on the edge of orgasm.

"I'm not going to last long," he admitted, his voice a warm caress as he braced his weight on his elbows either side of my head. His mouth met mine in a kiss of possession, slowly gentling it until our lips were only just brushing against each other. I felt him, hot and hard nudging against my overheated flesh that was begging for release. I knew as soon as he'd slip inside me I'd come.

"Please." The breathless cry left my lips as I wrapped myself around him; my legs tangled with his and my arms, one around his neck, the other around his waist.

He guided himself into me, pausing as his tip slipped into me. I could feel him throbbing and heavy and wiggled my hips to encourage him to enter me. My hands pulled him closer to me. He slid in a little further, before almost pulling all the way out again. I cried out in frustration, my body wanting him most desperately.

Without warning, he entered me to his hilt. My body spasmed around him as I came forcefully, pleasure crashing over me in waves. He groaned and his mouth met mine, his body rocking against me as I rode out my orgasm.

His gentle rocking rhythm slowly gained speed. My hips rose and fell, meeting his tempo as we made love. I whispered his name, the sounds of our pleasure wrapping around us as they hung in the air. His hand slipped under me, tilting my hips upward. Our pelvises ground together, the friction quickly sending me higher and higher. I felt him tighten and tremble within me a moment before he grunted and exploded, his warmth coating my walls, taking me over the edge with him.

We lay tangled together, our bodies covered in a thin sheen of sweat as we shared sweet kisses occasionally, savouring each other.

"Stephanie," Carlos whispered after some time. Our bodies were starting to cool now, and I smiled softly at Carlos as he wrapped the duvet around us, encapsulating us our own little world.

"Uh oh," I teased, reminding him that he only used my full name when he was being serious. He smiled a little, brushing a kiss against my eyebrow that was raised at him in question.

"Babe. I just wanted to thank you," he murmured, tucking my curls behind my ears so he could better see my face.

"For what?" I frowned, trying to recall what he was thanking me for. Surely not the sex?

"For coming after me," he replied. I felt embarrassed. Oh. That.

"Why wouldn't I –" I started to protest softly, when his lips silenced mine, turning my body into mush. I melted against him.

"Shhhh, Steph. Not many people would have done what you did for me. Thank you," he repeated, his finger touching my cheek reverently as he spoke.

"You welcome. I just wanted you home," I uttered, on the verge of tears. I blinked rapidly, trying to keep them at bay.

"There's no place I'd rather be," he promised, kissing away the lone tear that managed to escape and roll down my cheek. Our lips met again, and we lost ourselves in each other once more.

~*S*R*~

The next week, we found ourselves cuddled up on the couch together watching TV. Bones had forbidden us from going downstairs for at least the next three weeks. We were confined to bed rest; I just don't think Bones remembered to explain to Carlos exactly what bed rest was. If Bones found out we'd made love three times our first night home, the shit would probably hit the fan. As it was, both Carlos and I were a little sorer the next day. We'd tried to be good the following days, with very little success.

Carlos was gently playing with my curls as he flicked through the television channels.

"Carlos? There was something I wanted to ask you," I murmured, tilting my head back slightly to gaze at him.

"Shoot, Babe," he answered, flashing me a panty melting smile.

"Are you in the real estate game?" I wondered.

"That's how I make most of my money," he confided, tucking my head down onto his shoulder as he brushed his lips against my head.

"Really? Not from the government paying you trillions of dollars to invade third world countries?" I giggled softly.

"Babe."

"How'd you get into it?" I said, taking his hand in mine so I could play with his fingers. They were so rough from working on the plantation, but I really didn't mind. The sensation of when they ran across my bare skin made me shiver.

I almost fell off the couch when he burst into laughter.

"Babe. If I tell you, I might have to kill you," he replied, still chuckling as he drew me closer to him.

"Now I'm really curious. In fact, even Tank smiled when I asked him about it," I exclaimed. "Please, Carlos?" I begged, pouting out my bottom lip as I glanced up at him from beneath my eyelashes.

"Babe," he murmured hoarsely, tucking me more tightly against his chest.

I waited silently, hoping he was going to tell me. I'd learnt over the years, that if he was going to tell me something, I was more likely to get a result by keeping my mouth shut.

"When I was younger, my family had a pet goldfish," he paused and was quiet for a few long moments.

I bit my bottom lip and concentrated on not smiling.

"His name was Mr Twinkles. Celia named him," he muttered, almost darkly. Bet he didn't think Mr Twinkles was a manly enough name for his goldfish.

"What did you want to name him?" I asked with a knowing grin.

"Babe."

"C'mon Carlos, I know you had another name for him," I teased.

"Maverick." _As in Maverick from Top Gun? Oh Boy._

"Nice." I tilted my head back, giving him a cheesy grin. He captured my lips in a playful kiss, before pulling back marginally.

"Babe. I read army based comics as a child, watched any military shows on the TV. I somehow got it into my head, that our goldfish was an undercover military agent that was trying to recruit me."

I couldn't hold in my laughter this time.

"Babe."

"Sorry," I gasped, easing off on my laughing. I brought his hand to my lips, apologizing silently.

"It gets worse."

"I'll bet," I muttered.

"Whenever he opened and closed his mouth, I thought he was trying to send me a message through Morse code. If he did it fast, that was a short signal, and slow was a long one. My father had an old book on Morse code from his army days. I spent hours translating what he was saying. Most of it didn't make any sense, but the one phrase he kept saying was, _go into real estate_."

Typical, even as a child, Carlos was military minded.

Shaking my head I whispered, "I love you. Thanks for sharing."

"You just have to ask, Babe," he replied, gently turning me over so we lay chest to chest, thigh to thigh.

"I'll remember that," I promised quietly before our lips met and we lost ourselves in each other for a few long minutes.

When we parted, our breathing was laboured, our chests rising and falling rapidly. My ribs ached, but it was so worth it.

Carlos cuddled me down against his chest, manoeuvring me so I could see the TV once more. A news report was playing from Brazil.

"Turn it up," I whispered.

"_We have recent confirmation that a covert US government operation has been successful in bringing down a notorious multi-million dollar people smuggling operation here in Para, Brazil. Our sources tell us that a small team of Army Rangers infiltrated the organization, gaining essential intelligence for a team of Navy Seals and FBI agents to go in and make the arrests. We have not yet received confirmation on how many arrests have been made, but we've had reports on a number of prominent politicians both in Brazil and the States being called in for questioning. I guess time will tell on how far this illegal operation has reached across the globe. Back to you, Geordie,"_ the man nodded to the camera, before the shot switched back to the studio hosts.

I sat there stunned. We'd done it; we'd actually made a difference; our gathered intelligence had been enough to take down Medeiros and his whole operation. It had very nearly cost us our lives, but the world would now be a better place.

"Proud of you, Babe," Carlos murmured, startling me out of my daze.

I turned to the man I loved and kissed him softly.

We were both alive and together. That was all that really mattered.

_The End._


End file.
